Snow is tonight expected to fall to lower levels in the South Island as a cold front moves north, with the weather over the next few days going back downhill over the North Island as a low develops in the Tasman.  The low is predicted to lie west of the North Island on Thursday pushing up against a high moving in over the South Island.

WeatherWatch.co.nz estimates snow is already falling to low levels this evening around Queenstown and parts of Central Otago with snow flurries possible in the townships tonight.  As of 7:30pm it was 2 degrees with fairly moderate precipitation.

Dunedin and Oamaru were on 5 with showers.

MetService says in today’s Severe Weather Outlook that from Friday to Sunday the low should move eastwards across the North Island and deepen, but there is a large degree of uncertainty with when the low makes it to the east of the country.

“However it is very likely that the low pressure system will bring heavy rain and gale force winds to many areas from Auckland to Marlborough as it crosses New Zealand, especially to central and eastern areas of the North Island.” says MetService.

They says for Coromandel Peninsula, northern and eastern areas of Auckland, the far western Bay of Plenty and also for the ranges of Marlborough and Nelson, confidence is low that a heavy rain warning will be required for Thursday and Friday. Confidence is also low that easterly gales may gust to severe gale at times from Thursday to Saturday about western areas of the North Island from Waitomo to Manawatu.

For Gisborne and northern Hawkes Bay, there is increasing confidence that rainfall accumulations will reach warning amounts during Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In remaining areas of Hawkes Bay, the central North Island high country and in Wairarapa, there is a low probability that heavy rain will accumulate to warning amounts, and southerly gales may become severe on Saturday and Sunday.